I have been pondering a Pre conversion up in Nebraska. Am told it moved up there last year and had been a southern bus all its life. One pic shows what looks like whip cream under the wheel wells. What is that? It looks clean and the miles aren't bad. I am interested in your comments and especially your intuitive "feelings".

One thing that bothers me is that some pretty simple tasks have gone undone...by his admission. Things like a bad motor in an overhead fan and an air leaking valve needed to flush. The valve is in the open bay and hisses. Other nickel dime stuff.

PS: This is the DDEC that has no air throttle nor Governator.....Dallas

Moderator note: I fixed the second image gallery link for you. It was broken.

TANKS!

« Last Edit: May 13, 2010, 07:17:53 AM by JohnEd »

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"An uneducated vote is a treasonous act more damaging than any treachery of the battlefield.The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." Plato “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”—Pla

Looks pretty nice to me for $58K. Figure 6 new tires and a paint job and maybe another couple of grand for misc, you'd still be in pretty good shape.Personally, I never did like Liberty decor, but if you do, that's great. Keep in mind that everything is 18 years old. The chassis will probably be just fine but all the house components may start to fail as you use them. That was my experience with my 94 Vogue; TV, back up camera, one furnace, hydraulic levelers etc. all started to fail shortly after I bought it. Not a big deal, but be prepared for it.

Looks really nice to me. And that doesn't seem like a bad price. If you are prepared to be a "cash" buyer, you may be able to negotiate it down. But of course you know the standard advice - examine it carefully in person and have a mechanic experienced with that powertrain look it over.

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One pic shows what looks like whip cream under the wheel wells. What is that?

It looks to me like the wheel well has some kind of spray foam insulation and those places are where something ripped into it.

JohnThat is undercoating ripped by a blown tire. Not a big deal. The rest of the stuff is normal everyday issues of owning a bus. Might want to talk to chuck d about accesing the blower motor. Some of the conversion companies put them in difficult to reach places. Seems like a great deal to me. Drive it. Start it cold. Watch amd listen Clifford and others will help you make sense of what you see and hear. There's a arrow bus shop in Omaha really good mechanics. If they're still in business.

I think that is a fantastic buy. A bus like that selling in the $50k range is really something to take note of. Is this an abnormality or a sign of more great buses at low prices to be had in the future? There doesn't seem to be a bottom to it. My bus must be worth something with a negative in front of it. Ouch!

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L. Christley - W3EYE Amateur ExtraBlue Ridge Mountains, S.W. VirginiaIt’s the education gained, and the ability to apply, and share, what we learn.Have fun, be great, that way you have Great Fun!

I almost bought an 91 Prevost this year but did not. I did a reasonable amount to research though. Liberty seems to have the best all around reputation. Check online, and I do not think you will find a 90's Liberty conversion for near the price. If it was perfect, it would be much more expensive. Although $58k is not small change to most of us, I would say that it should be able to fetch that same price for some years to come if the world stays that same. I could not say that about any personally converted coaches.

"An uneducated vote is a treasonous act more damaging than any treachery of the battlefield.The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." Plato “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”—Pla

Now that you've made the world aware of this sale, you better move quick. One of the lurkers on this board is probably already packing his or her bag to go see it, test it and buy it.

I was thinking the exact same thing. Except it wouldn't be a lurker you need to worry about, it would be me. If I had the coin I would have already been on the plane. This defiantly qualifies for the old cliche: "You snooze, you loose!". If this is something you have more than a passing interest in, I strongly urge you act quickly. Good luck John.

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L. Christley - W3EYE Amateur ExtraBlue Ridge Mountains, S.W. VirginiaIt’s the education gained, and the ability to apply, and share, what we learn.Have fun, be great, that way you have Great Fun!

The worst part about it is that this bus will be used as a reference for future sales. For example, if I were looking at a Prevost three months from now and the seller wanted $89k I would be comparing it to this bus. I would end up saying to myself "It looks good, but I saw one almost as nice for $58 obo, I should have bought that one and saved myself over $30k". Then I would be forever trying to find an equivalent deal, driving myself crazy. If I were independently wealthy I wouldn't care, but I chose to be child rich instead. This bus has never seen revenue service, how ever many miles it has, it is probably just getting broken in.

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L. Christley - W3EYE Amateur ExtraBlue Ridge Mountains, S.W. VirginiaIt’s the education gained, and the ability to apply, and share, what we learn.Have fun, be great, that way you have Great Fun!

I would be all over that one, I paid $35,000 for my 35 foot Prevost, with 119k miles. It is a 1979. So 11 years newer, 5 feet longer, hard to pass up. Not sure I got it for the lowest price, but at the time I thought it was fair.

JohnThat is undercoating ripped by a blown tire. Not a big deal. The rest of the stuff is normal everyday issues of owning a bus. Might want to talk to chuck d about accesing the blower motor. Some of the conversion companies put them in difficult to reach places. Seems like a great deal to me. Drive it. Start it cold. Watch amd listen Clifford and others will help you make sense of what you see and hear. There's a arrow bus shop in Omaha really good mechanics. If they're still in business.

Rick it could have been a blown tire, but more likely just road debris thrown up at it from the tires. (usually, not always, but usually a blown tire results in much or and worse damage than that! )

FWIW Looks like a nice coach. Especially for the asking price. I'm like Niles though (in a way, except I don't have his $ ), the part that intrigues me is the OBO! If it were me, (and it's not cause I ain't got no money!) I'd offer $40,000 contingent on a through inspection of the complete bus and ALL it's systems by a qualified bus mechanic and/RV technician (for the systems a mechanic may not be familiar with). If they are willing to consider that offer waste no time going and checking it out. If they won't accept that offer tell them you'd have to see it in person and have the inspections done first before being able to offer more.

Now that is what I call a plan. I will run it past my Financial Director.

Thank you,

John

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"An uneducated vote is a treasonous act more damaging than any treachery of the battlefield.The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." Plato “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”—Pla

I just thought that I should say one more thing about this. In spite of it appearing to be a good deal. Make sure that this is the type of coach that you want. It's makeup does dictate a particular camping style. If that is what you want, then it is good. If you feel you will be compromising with it, you may need to decide if, even at a great price, it is the deal for you.

The backup plan could be to try it out knowing that you could probably get your money out of it should you later decide it is not what you really wanted. Some shops could probably sand out the clearcoat and redo it for a couple of thousand, and it would look very nice.

Now that's what I'm talk'n bout. The horse's mouth to my ear. I sent you PM's and a post a couple weeks ago and got zip but Van said you were on the road. Glad your back and really glad to get your warning. If you stop answering me I will never get a bus cause I need your blessing to do that. I said at the outset that it sure looked good but I had a bad feeling and didn't know about what. I was going to ask him for a fread on the maint records and I guess that would have come up empty.

Bad engine, I suppose.

Thank you for getting back to me,

John

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"An uneducated vote is a treasonous act more damaging than any treachery of the battlefield.The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." Plato “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”—Pla

I don't think Clifford wanted to go public. I have no problem with his reservations and as Hargreaves says" this board goes all over the world". I will email you after Clifford sends me the PM he mentioned unless he feels that the info should remain private. I am sure looking forward to getting it, myself.

John

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"An uneducated vote is a treasonous act more damaging than any treachery of the battlefield.The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." Plato “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”—Pla